Who loves to travel but doesn’t love the cost?? We as a family and as couple love to travel but we love to save money on travel and still visit fun locations. Recently we booked a trip to Hawaii for this Summer and for 6 Roundtrip tickets we paid a whopping $66.00..I just paid taxes! Getting tickets for practical free definitely took some planning but it was fairly easy and totally doable! Keep in mind we worked on earning these miles for about one year.
How I earned miles:
- I opened up the Chase Sapphire Card. The bonus was 100,000 miles once you spent $3000 in 3 months. The bonus right now is 60,000 miles but that can change either direction! I love this card because you can transfer miles to different airlines!
- I opened the Southwest Business Card. The bonus is 80,000 miles after you spend $5000 in 3 months. If you don’t have your own business check out this offer AND you earn the companion pass! Make sure you have a Rapid Rewards Account.
- My husband opened the United Explorer Card and earned 50,000 Bonus Miles after spending $3000 in 3 months. He uses this card for work and earned another 50,000 miles from flights and work trips over the past year. His company pays this card off each month.
How I Booked:
From Denver to Maui (OGG):
I booked this leg with United and Chase Miles. Each Leg was 22.5K miles so 135,000 miles total. I had 110,000 United Miles and then transferred 25,000 miles from my Chase Sapphire Card. I had to pay $33.00 in taxes for the 6 tickets. This was a non-stop flight in June!
From Maui to Denver :
I booked this leg on Southwest. Each leg was 21,000 miles so 126,000 miles total. I had 86,000 miles in my Southwest Account so I transferred 40,000 miles from my Chase Account to my Southwest account. I paid $33 in taxes for 6 tickets!
Tips:
- Start with one card at a time while you get the hang of it! The Chase Sapphire is amazing for beginners!
- To earn the bonus use the card for things you are already buying (groceries, gas, ect) and you can meet the spending requirements pretty quickly! I also make sure every big purchase goes on one of these Credit Cards (new tires, house projects, DR bills, ect)
- Most important: PAY YOUR CARD OFF EACH MONTH! This is definitely a hobby for people who are disciplined financially.
- Follow Travel Hacking Mom! They have great great tips and helped me SO much!
- Some of these cards have annual fees so you need to weigh if those are worth it to you!
Another amazing card is the new VentureX card! The spending minimum is higher ($10,000 in 6 months) but you then earn 100,000 points and you also get a $300 Vacation Credit and a $200 Airbnb Credit!! I didn’t use it on this trip but I am excited to use these miles on a future trip!
I hope this is helpful and feel free to reach out with any questions!! thecouponcaroline@gmail.com
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